Glenbrook South Year-End Physics
Projects

Project
Pitfalls

Common Errors and Pitfalls to Avoid:

There are a number of errors which are
commonly made which you would be wise to avoid. Such errors include
the following:

Failure to write a
formal lab
report and the tendency to write
a paper similar in style to a narrative.

Failure to label the sections of the lab
report such that it is not clear whether a given part of it is
reporting on the procedure, the data or the conclusions.

Tendency to place procedural statements
in the
purpose
(e.g., "we will then measure the photogate time at point A and
calculate the speed, repeating the measurements three times to
insure accuracy") and procedural statements in the Conclusion
section (e.g., "we measured the photogate time and calculated the
instantaneous speed and then found the kinetic energy and total
mechanical energy...").

Failure to write a solid and lengthy
theoretical
background (literature survey)
and tendency to merely state a short hypothesis (e.g., "we believe
that the higher the initial height, the greater the speed at point
B."). The theory should be a lengthy section in which you
demonstrate that you know how a wealth of physics applies to your
chosen scenario.

Failure to respond to the Basic Research
Questions in the
theoretical
background (literature survey).
While your project has a good deal of freedom associated with it
(at least in terms of what you decide to research and test), there
are still requirements to meet. The Basic Research Questions are
the minimal requirements which should guide your literature search
and be found in your theoretical background.

Tendency to merely state information in
the
theoretical
background (literature survey)
which was read from books and other sources. You must somehow
demonstrate that you understand the material that you research. It
will be obvious that you understand your topic when you elaborate
upon it in your own words, when you provide examples of a
statement, when you draw your own diagram to depict an idea in a
different manner, when you make a connection between two
conceptual ideas, when you provide a mathematical equation which
represents a physical relationship, and when you connect what you
read with what we've talked about in class.

Failure to cite references from within
the paper and/or include a
bibliography.
If you fail to cite sources, then no teacher grading your report
will believe your bibliography. In this case, you will get a low
grade on the literature search portion of your project.

Failure to include a step-by-step
procedure.
A good procedure has listed (and numbered steps). Do not merely
write paragraphs. The procedure should be so specific and clearly
stated that a
stranger
could repeat the experiment without knowing anything about it.

Failure to use the proper tense in the
procedure
section. Avoid procedure statements like "We then taped the Hot
Wheels track to the floor." Avoid prcedural statements like "you
then tape the Hot Wheels track to the floor." Instead merely put
the statement in command form: "Tape the Hot Wheels track to the
floor." The procedure is written in order to inform (i.e.
command)
a person on how to conduct the experiment.

Failure to organize the
Data and
Graphs section in an appropriate
manner. The biggest organization failure is the tendency to force
all the data into one table. If you have done the type of
ambitious experiment which we expect of you, then you could not
possibly fit all the data in one table (let alone one page).
Choose the best organizational scheme to represent your data
intelligently. For example, organize the data into tables of
measured data and calculated data. And/or organize data into
separate tables for separate parts of the experiment. Use a table
to summarize inportant data collected for a variety of trials.
Organize data so that it meaningfully makes the point which you
believe your data is making. All data tables should be labeled
with an intelligent label (for example,"Measured Data for Roller
Coaster Incline Experiment")

Tendency to omit certain pieces of
measured data from the
Data and
Graphs section. Often students
leave out important pieces of data which they collected. For
example, a group might determine the speed of an object using a
photogate timer. They would measure the flag width and the
photogate time and then calculate the speed. Yet in their data
section, they only give a record of the speed, omitting the
crucial measurement values of the flag width and the photogate
time.

Tendency to merely restate your measured
data in the
Discussion
of Results section (e.g., "we
measured the photogate times to be 0.0125 s when the height was
0.5 m and we measured the time to be 0.008 s when the height was
0.15 m").

Tendency to make very general
conclusions in the
Discussion
of Results section. Such
conclusions (while perhaps true) often have nothing to do with the
idea behind the lab report (e.g., "This project was fun and we
learned alot. We wish we could have done more projects like
this.").

In general, all of these errors and pitfalls
are usually the result of either not following project guidelines or
rushing the project together at the last minute (which subsequently
leads to a tendency to not follow directions). Thus, give yourself
plenty of time and take the time and effort needed to be acquainted
with the guidelines described on these Internet pages.

Examples:

Exemplary (for the most part) projects are
included online at
The
Refrigerator; a quick glance at these pages
is highly recommended prior to the completion of your project. Such
examples are not included for you to mimic, but rather as helpful
illustrations of what your own end product might look like. Students
should be cautioned that project guidelines change through the years
and thus the online exemplars should not be considered as the
definitive
word concerning what should be
included in the final lab report. The
definitive
word are the guidelines which are
included on these Internet pages.